Yle poll: NCP and Finns Party up after presidential election

The first Yle party support poll of the year suggests a boost in support for the National Coalition and the Finns Party, along with the SDP.

Yle’s first monthly poll after the presidential election suggests support for the National Coalition has risen in the wake of good performances by President Sauli Niinistö, who ran as an independent but was previously an NCP MP.

“Although Sauli Niinistö was nominated by a voters’ association [and not a party], there’s a clear spike in NCP support as soon as the presidential election result was announced,” said Tuoma Turja of Taloustutkimus, who carried out the survey on behalf of Yle.

Sauli Niinistö
Image:
Roni Rekomaa / Lehtikuva

The other perceived big winner in the election was Laura Huhtasaari, a first-term MP whose anti-immigration line raised her Finns Party’s profile during the campaign after a bruising schism saw the party split last summer.

The party overtook the Left Alliance in this month’s poll.

“Over the last few weeks the Finns Party’s support has been slightly above the long-term average,” said Turja. “I believe that is the effect from Huhtasaari’s campaign.”

The Social Democrats also saw an increase in support, but it would be difficult to attribute that to their presidential election campaign—Tuula Haatainen secured just 3.5 percent of the vote in the presidential election, the party’s worst-ever result.